The catalyst makes all the difference. It cures nice and hard like a proper paint. I think you'll like it.
The catalyst makes all the difference. It cures nice and hard like a proper paint. I think you'll like it.
Primer down. Weather is being uncooperative, but Saturday was perfect. You can tell it's raining today by the river that appears on my garage floor... A little more sanding, another light coat of primer sometime this week, and fingers crossed for top coat next weekend.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
That catalyst definitely made all the difference! After 12 hours over a cold humid night, this paint is smooth and rock hard. I sprayed a little runny in the back, but had it dialed in by the time I got up front. I'll finish off the quart later this week with touch up. It's hard to capture the color with a phone in this lighting, but I'm extremely pleased. It's a very nice off-white cream.
All the suspension is getting cleaned and painted. Rattle can primer, under Rustoleum with the tractor hardener sprayed through my HVLP. Laying down black this weekend so I can get it rolling again! I might also hit the axle since it only has rattle can black.
The Majic-hardened Rustoleum worked pretty well for the suspension parts. I also hit the axle while I was at it. Mixing 2:1 lacquer thinner to Rusto with a good splash of hardener, through a 1.4 tip on my Harbor Freight HVLP at about 28 PSI at the compressor. Garage looks like a slaughter house of car parts.
I don't plan to use the wheel speed sensors, plus the wire was cut anyway by past Travis. So I finished the job and hack-sawed them down to make tidy little plugs for the hole.
Time to do something I've been putting off for a long time: properly delete the power steering. I've had this guide bookmarked for 4 years, written up by a college friend who built an SC300 Chump Car back when it was called that.
First remove the tensioner and pinion nuts. A 5/8" hex head bolt works as a driver.
The plug tensions this spring, which puts pressure on the pinion. Adjustable resistance essentially.
I don't have a wrench this size, but I have a bench vise and leverage.
With the tie rods off, the whole rack slides out and you can start cutting seals. I just used a box cutter. I also hit the ones on the pinion.
Those fluid line fittings are unsightly.
TIG'd them up, along with some random holes on the pinion housing.
And put it all back together with a generous heaping of Mystery Grey Wheel Bearing Grease. I also shaved some extra bosses off the pinion housing. Paint too of course.
Here we have the first part installed on this frame. It was at this moment I realized I am no longer building a rat rod. This is something else, something much nicer. And that scares the E36 M3 out of me. Also check out all these U-joints in my steering.
Waiting on all the suspension bolts to get zinc-plated, so I tackled the front brakes and shocks.
Check out these Lexus calipers. They're two-piston two-piece, which is probably overkill on a car that might weigh 2500 lbs. Cleaned, painted, and regreased everything. New stainless hoses that have been in the "box" for over 2 years now.
The shocks are from 06/07 GSXR sport bikes. They're about $25 on eBay, but come with tacky yellow springs and generally needed a good clean up. My spring compressor is too big for the clearance to the shock body, so I had to use the big ol' Columbian bench vise and a ratchet strap for containment.
That is really coming together sir. The calipers came out nicely. What color are you thinking for the body?
maschinenbau said:The structure is a bit more structural now. Bottom rails of the body are in. These are part of the bottom perimeter of the body, which the vertical pillars will attach to.
All ground smooth
Roof hoop, which connects the B-pillars while supporting the roof, is fabbed and tacked in. I ran out of material to box in the B-pillar.
Welded up, for strength
Ground down, for prettiness
And here's the idea for body-frame mounts.
The angled piece is made from the same tubing as the frame. A bolt will go through it and the frame. There will be six of these one at the base of A-pillar, B-pillar, and front of the cowl.
My new best friend for this Indiana winter. It's way too small for this huge un-insulated pole barn, but it helps.
I am *so* late to this party, but loving your work.
In reply to 84FSP :
I have some ideas on body color, but we're a long way out from that and my mind has changed weekly for the past year. I like metal flake though.
maschinenbau said:I want to zinc plate everything in my life. OMG
And you thought you were building a rat rod.... lolololool
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Maybe 3 years ago I was. That was a different time, a different state, a different me. So much has changed in my life since I stopped working on this car two years ago to build mthe Datsun. It feels like reading a history book about myself, learning lessons from it, and writing the next page. But with an angle grinder instead of a pen.
Michael - I used Georgia Plating in Covington GA. They also do gold colored zinc and e-coat. No idea about price, these tagged along with a batch at work. I'm happy with the quality.
Patrick said:You never were building a rat rod, it just took you this long to realize it
Metallic paint, eh? Sounds like a Kustom to me. I approve( for what it's worth).
Man I spend a year and a half not reading GRM forums, and this happens. So much has changed! Really impressive build.
Your old house up here changed hands again, but unfortunately there still aren't any cool projects in the garage to peek at as I come home from work.
It's a roller again, this time for good. Overall it went together pretty well. The front LCA mounts were a little tight, so I damaged some paint while persuading them in there. The driver side has significantly more negative camber than the other side when the camber bolts set to the same position. But everything fits and every bolt is accessible so far. The lower shock mounts suddenly look terrible in my eyes so I'm fabbing new ones, hence the no paint.
I still only have about $3500 in the whole project, and I don't have much left to buy. DIY pays off.
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